Saturday, November 30, 2013

My opinion: I'm glad that this is finally being researched. People often assume that things like toy guns or violent video games may be malevolent, but it it is important to investigate before coming up with a more firm conclusion. That being said, though I like most of the methods used in the study, I have a problem with one. We don't know whether the students tested are or aren't already players of violent video games. If so, this could potentially skew the results. Also, even if this is not an issue, we still don't know the long term effects. On another note, one of my favorite parts of the study shows that girls and boys respond similarly to these games, although the affect on the boys is greater. It would be interesting to see the affect on different races, if there is any. Questions? Feel free to comment.

Violent video games reduce teens' self-control, study shows

Friday 29 November 2013 - 12am PST

Gone are the days of teenagers being content with climbing trees
and playing basketball in their free time. Nowadays, they are more
likely to be found playing video games. But new research suggests that
teenagers who play violent video games are more likely to cheat,
experience increased aggression and have reduced self-control.